BOONEVILLE -- When Booneville needed a key stop, the defense delivered Friday night at Bearcat Stadium.
Booneville got a late fourth-and-goal stop at its 1 to seal a 10-7 victory against Osceola in the Class 3A playoffs.
Osceola forced a punt late in the fourth quarter to set up a drive starting at its own 36 with about seven minutes left.
The Seminoles (5-5) moved to the 1 before quarterback Dontaveon Littleton was thrown for a loss with about four minutes left in the game. The Bearcats ran out the clock after that.
"It was amazing," Booneville Coach Doc Crowley said. "I had some flashbacks of big stops in the past. I just had a feeling the defense was going to step up and make a play."
There was a stoppage in play before the big fourth-down play. It was assumed on the Booneville sideline that Littleton would get the ball with the game on the line.
"Coach [Arron] Kimes talked to them at the timeout," Crowley said. "We knew he'd carry it. We got ourselves in the right play. We had a swarm over there. It was great to see. They are starting to play with a chip on their shoulder like they did at the first of the year."
Booneville (10-2) was led on offense by senior fullback Ethan Wooldridge. He finished with 16 carries for 130 yards. Quarterback Randon Ray finished with 20 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Osceola was guided by a strong game from Littleton. He finished 10-of-16 passing for 110 yards. He also rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.
Booneville grabbed a 10-0 halftime lead with a pair of scoring drives and five stops on defense.
Osceola took the opening possession and marched inside the Booneville 10 before losing a fumble. Brett Welling recovered for the Bearcats.
"Defense showed out and kept us in it," Crowley said. "We take big pride in playing good defense around here. I'm just excited for those guys. I'm so proud of how they played. If you can hold a team like that to seven points, you are doing something right."
Booneville struck first on its second drive of the night in just two plays. Wooldridge ran up the middle for a 62-yard gain. That set up a 17-yard touchdown from Ray that gave the Bearcats a 7-0 lead late in the first.
After forcing a punt from Osceola, Booneville added to its lead in the second quarter. The Bearcats got a 28-yard field goal from Gavin Kent, the school's career extra point leader. The field goal ended up being the difference in the game.
"We are going to miss that dude when he is gone," Crowley said. "He works so hard at kicking. But I think that was his first career made field goal. He has attempted some long ones. But what a night to make your first one. I was glad to see that one go through."
Osceola cut into the lead in the third quarter with its lone scoring drive. The Seminoles marched 77 yards to cut Booneville's lead to 10-7 with three seconds left in the third quarter. Littleton scored from the 2.
"Defensively, this has been the best we have seen all year long," Crowley said. "They were quick and brought a lot of pressure with blitz. They did some things we didn't see them do. We missed some assignments, but we feel good advancing and look to fix our mistakes now."